Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, later today I'll table a document, being a bill that was prepared in the 15th Legislative Assembly but not enacted. Mr. Speaker, that bill is the Safer Communities and Neighbourhoods Act. With some minor revisions, the enactment of this draft bill, we could provide enforcement with the tool to help addressing the manufacturing and sale of illicit drugs. The legislation's already present and working in Alberta, Manitoba, New Brunswick, Newfoundland and Labrador, Nova Scotia, Saskatchewan, and the Yukon.
So, Mr. Speaker, will the Minister of Justice confirm what enforcement tools are we using in the NWT to shut down known drug houses throughout the territories? Thank you.
Thank you, Member for Hay River South. Minister responsible for Justice.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. So right now the tools that are being used are the tools that are the RCMP's disposal their ability to do investigations, to get search warrants, and the like. So what we don't have access to are a lot of the tools that other jurisdictions do, that are not criminal law but civil law tools, like the SCAN legislation that the Member is talking about. So unfortunately right now we have a limited set of tools in the territory. Thank you.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. And I thank the Minister for that answer. I think it's important that we look at expanding the tools that we do have, and if that means going and looking at civil legislation then that's what we should be doing.
Mr. Speaker, will the Minister confirm why we'd want to look at civil legislation to deal with those drug houses? Thank you.
Thank you. Over the last number of years, the tools that the RCMP have traditionally used have been eroded by changes to the Criminal Code, by Supreme Court decisions, so the reason to look at civil legislation is so that we can do our part to support the RCMP in addressing some of those issues. Civil legislation, it's much different than the criminal legislation. It doesn't need to be enforced by RCMP officers. It uses a balance of probabilities as opposed to proof beyond a reasonable doubt. So there's a number of benefits to using civil legislation, and it just expands the toolbox that the law enforcement has access to. Thank you.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, it sounds like maybe we should be enacting this piece of legislation. It didn't happen in the 15th Assembly, but the difference now is that we have a lot of people dying because of drugs.
Mr. Speaker, will the Minister commit his department to undertake and complete a jurisdictional scan and review of the Safer Communities and Neighbourhoods Act used in other jurisdictions? Thank you.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. So we're at the tail end of this Assembly. We have maybe six months left where we can actually get things done. Right now, the Department of Justice is working on the policies and legislation that we've been working on for a number of years and trying to wrap that up. So as of today, there isn't the capacity to go about and do that; however, times have changed. We're seeing new drugs. We're seeing new types of criminals in the territory. We're seeing a lot of interest from criminal organizations outside of the territory in the Northwest Territories. So we have to change as well. So it's imperative that we look at these pieces of legislation. I think we have a moral obligation to do so, to do what we can to stop these deaths and the devastation that drugs are causing in the community.
So while I can't commit to the work that would be involved in looking at this piece of legislation and doing all of that work, because it is a significant amount of work, I have spoken with the department, and I've let them know that we need to put our minds to this. We don't have a crime reduction unit in the Department of Justice, but that doesn't mean we can't look at more of these initiatives. We do have a number of initiatives, community safety officers, things like this, but it's clear that we need some more tools.
So this has been the focus of a number of discussions I've had with the department. This piece of the SCAN legislation is one piece. There is more communication other pieces could include more communication between the RCMP and the Minister, other types of civil legislation, more support from municipalities. So all of these things are on the table, and I've asked the department to turn their mind to it and figure out how we are going to respond, because we can't continue to do the same thing. There needs to be action on this, and we can start now. Thank you.
Thank you, Minister. Final supplementary. Member for Hay River South.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, Hay River residents, and NWT residents, do not want to attend more funerals. What we want is the enforcement tools to hit those who are manufacturing and selling out of public housing units, out of private housing, and out of commercial properties. I know the Minister has already alluded to this next question but, Mr. Speaker, will the Minister commit to review this draft SCAN bill and consider it for the NWT before the end of this Assembly? We have to do something and doing nothing just isn't acceptable. Thank you.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. So personally I have reviewed the draft bill. It's very similar to other bills across the country the Member named a number of jurisdictions that have this. And as I've already stated, I won't repeat myself, but we are turning our minds to this. We know we have to do something, and we need to take action. Thank you.
Oral questions. Member for Nunakput.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Today, Mr. Speaker, yesterday was the first time I heard my Minister speak about Bill C21 here in the House in regards to long gun firearms legislation that's trying to go through in Ottawa. What's the GNWT's position on this bill? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you, Member for Nunakput. Honourable Premier.
Mr. Speaker, I would like to defer that to the Minister of Justice.
Thank you. Minister responsible for Justice.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. So when Bill C21 was introduced, there wasn't a lot of controversy around it. I mean, it is a bill that's banning certain firearms, but the real controversy was the amendment that the government put forward in November that would prohibit a number of firearms that are used by hunters in the Northwest Territories. As I've stated in this House, we are not in support of those amendments. I had a conversation with the Minister of public safety on Tuesday, and I explained to him the history of the Northwest Territories. You know, the fact that in the Northwest Territories, there are more hunters on average in the population, and I would guess that our hunters are hunting a lot more than most parts of Canada. So these are very, very important tools to the people of Northwest Territories, and we are not in support of removing those tools from the hands of the hunters and residents of the territory. Thank you.
Thank you, Minister. Oral questions. Member for Nunakput.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Thank you for that, Mr. Minister. I'm really happy to hear that. Will the Minister, the Government of the Northwest Territories, clearly, make the federal government on longterm firearms will negatively impact our Indigenous people and territory.
Will the Minister go public and start having meetings across the territory with our hunters and trappers and the people across the territory, because we haven't heard a thing since this Bill C21 came out, and like I said, it's the first time I heard it yesterday. We have to let people know what's happening, to work together. And did the Minister also talk to the Yukon government and to Nunavut? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. So when I spoke to the Minister, I said that there needs to be consultation; people need to come to the territory and they need to talk to people on the ground, not just to us and Indigenous governments, but to the hunters, the residents, who are going to impacted by this. So I have made that strong recommendation to the Minister.
First, the Department of Justice of the Northwest Territories is not going to go out and do consultation on a federal bill. That's the fed's job. But I think that they got the message. They're aware of the push back; that's why they removed the amendments. I haven't spoken directly with the Ministers from the Yukon and Nunavut but I'm aware of their position, and their position is the same as our position. They don't want to see their hunters disadvantaged in this way either. Thank you.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, on Bill C21, was ever the Northwest Territories government offered to see what any comments on this bill before the federal government went forward? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I would have to double check with the department but we definitely, there was no consultation on the amendments that are really the cause of the controversy here. Thank you.
Thank you, Minister. Oral questions. Member for Thebacha.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, can the Minister of ENR explain what happens with outfitter license holders at the end of the tenyear timeframe that they are entitled to hold their license? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you, Member for Thebacha. Minister responsible for Environment and Natural Resources.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, the wildlife business regulations, the tenyear period restarts after every year the outfitter has renewed their license and is compliant with the regulations. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Mr. Speaker, are outfitter license holders able to hold on to their outfitting license indefinitely as long as they follow the rules, or is there an opportunity every ten years for new applicants to apply to become holders of outfitter licenses? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, the Member's statement actually had all the correct information. So there are a maximum of seven outfitter licenses available to operators who are not partnered with the local harvesting committees. There's a maximum of ten licenses outfitting licenses for operators partnering with local harvesters. So when the maximum number of outfitters have been reached, a new license can only be issued if their license expires. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Mr. Speaker, can the Minister confirm whether a nonNWT resident can obtain an outfitting license in the NWT? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, there is no residential requirements to hold outfitter licenses so a nonNWT resident can obtain outfitters licenses. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Mr. Speaker, in the event that an outfitter license does not become available, how does ENR notify the public and interested applicants of that availability? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, the process is made public. As soon as the license is available, we put it out publicly. We also reach out to interested parties that have expressed interest in doing that. So we reach out to them, explain that it's happening, and then there's guidance on how a license can be applied for publicly. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you, Minister. Oral questions. Member for Tu NedheWiilideh.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. In my Member's statement earlier, I left out two names by accident. I just want to go on to recognize Bridget Mackay and Kinesha Norn, who also had gold in the hand games and Dene games category. I just want to acknowledge them. Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mahsi.
Thank you, Member for Tu NedheWiilideh. I take that as a comment. Oral questions. Member for Deh Cho.
Mahsi, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, my questions are for the Minister of Health and Social Services related to my Member's statement.
I'd like to know from the Minister the reasons why the health centre staff in the small communities are not allowed to attend to distress calls within the community and if there's a policy, what are the reasons for them? Mahsi.
Thank you, Member for Deh Cho. Minister responsible for Health and Social Services.
Yes, thank you, Mr. Speaker. And thank you to the Member for the question. The reasons the nurses don't leave the health centre is they are prohibited from doing so by policy. The emergency first responders who attend to immediate problems car crashes, people fainting, and so on they are specifically trained as first responders and they have the appropriate equipment, including transportation, to respond to the situation. So there are four communities in the NWT where municipalities provide that service but, unfortunately, this does not happen in the small communities. And I realize that that is less than ideal, especially when you have a very concerning case like the one the Member mentioned. Thank you.
Mahsi, Mr. Speaker. And mahsi to the Minister for the answer. Yes, our community, we don't have no ambulance services, but I know the health centre has a van and a bunch of other vehicles. Apparently, there's no first responders in most small communities, and that's the challenge we have. The only people we have close to that, that don't attend to these kinds of calls, are the volunteer fire department as they only attend to anything related to fire.
I am wondering if the Minister could commit to working with other departments, probably a whole of Cabinet initiative, to look at training first responders for small communities? Mahsi.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, it is generally the fire departments who also take care of the emergency responder calls, and there is training available through the Department of Municipal and Community Affairs. It was being done online during the COVID time, but I think it's gone back to inperson training now. So I would encourage the Member to connect with my colleague, the Minister of Municipal and Community Affairs, for more information. Thank you.
Thank you, Minister. Oral questions. Member for Kam Lake.
Thank you very much, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, my questions today are for the Minister of Finance.
Mr. Speaker, why has the GNWT overspent its computer hardware and software budget for every year during the 19th Assembly, and how does the GNWT intend to more accurately budget its digital infrastructure spending? Thank you.
Thank you, Member for Kam Lake. Minister responsible for Finance.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I appreciate the Member's observation. There certainly are budget lines that go department by department, which can make it difficult perhaps to look at it from a corporate perspective. I am, however, happy to say the Department of Finance is now putting in practice a way to better review and report on those specific items, computer hardware and software. That should make it easier to look at this from a governmentwide perspective and ensure that we are obviously controlling those costs but also better servicing the public through having better control over what products we have and making sure the departments have what they need. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you very much, Mr. Speaker. And I appreciate the department is taking note and putting in better controls to look at the spending on digital infrastructure. And just to be clear, I'm not opposed to digital infrastructure. I want to be clear as to what my interest is in this. Since the very beginning, I've been asking about integrated service delivery of the public service, and this is one of the barriers to being able to do that properly.
So given the great need for interoperability to properly serve NWT residents, does the NWT intend to create an interoperability framework? Thank you.
